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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000636A
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00:07 Sermon #B636 - Stop Making Excuses
00:22 Pastor Byrd: Go and read the book of Exodus, chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3 00:32 and we're going to go to verse number 9. Exodus chapter 3 verse 9, the word says of Exodus 3 verse 9, 00:47 "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me: 00:53 and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, 01:02 and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people 01:10 the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, who am I, 01:17 that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 01:26 And he said, certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, 01:31 that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, 01:35 ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, 01:41 "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, 01:44 'The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you'; and they shall say to me, 'What is his name?' 01:51 what shall I say unto them?" And God said unto Moses, tell them, "I am that I am": 02:01 and he said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I am hath sent me unto you.'" 02:06 And God said moreover unto Moses, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 02:11 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 02:14 and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you': this is my name forever, 02:20 and this is my memorial unto all generations." 02:27 Now, put a bookmark there and I got to give you a new testament scripture. Go to John 5, 02:37 because I'm going to preach two sermons in one. John 5:1, the word says, 02:49 "After this, there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 02:58 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, 03:05 having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, 03:11 withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, 03:16 and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water 03:19 stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, 03:24 which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, 03:27 and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, 03:32 "Wilt thou be made whole?" The impotent man answered him, "Sir, I have no man, 03:38 when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, 03:41 another steppeth down before me." Jesus saith unto him, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk." 03:53 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: 03:58 and on the same day was the Sabbath." Stop making excuses. [Congregation: Amen] 04:09 Bless us now Lord in this work. Hide me behind your cross, in Jesus name Lord moveth the appeal time. 04:21 Move by your power and by your spirit. Forgive me my sins in Jesus name, Amen. 04:28 Alright, before I begin today, there is a lady by the name of Carolyn. 04:36 Carolyn, what's the last name pastor? Johnson, Carolyn Johnson. Where are you right now? 04:42 Carolyn Johnson, I'm looking for you. If you are here, okay. This young lady is from Ardmore, Alabama. 04:54 I just got a word, there we go, give it a smile. I just got word that Carolyn Johnson is from Ardmore, AL 05:03 and watches Pastor Byrd on Breath of Life. [Congregation: Clapping] 05:09 I got word that you drove here today to meet me and see the Oakwood University church 05:18 and the Breath of Life Ministry. [Congregation: Clapping] 05:23 On behalf of all of us, we welcome you. Give her a round of applause everybody. 05:29 God bless you. [Congregation: Clapping] 05:36 So after church today, my wife and I will hug you, take pictures with you 05:42 and we have dinner in church just for you. Is that alright? God bless, you may be seated, Amen. 05:49 Stop making excuses. It's hard to believe, but when my family and I moved to Huntsville, 06:01 our oldest daughter was in the fifth grade. Our middle daughter who was the baby daughter at that time 06:10 was in the third grade. And our baby girl, there was no baby girl. It was just Danielle, myself, 06:22 Christian and Caileigh. But time flies because now, our baby that was in fifth grade is eighteen, 06:35 the baby that was in third grade is sixteen. And they both have a driver's license. 06:43 "Can I get the keys to the van?" God hasn't converted me, yet. Come on say amen. [Congregation: Amen] 06:50 And we've got the baby girl who's five. Next year, I don't know if this has ever happened 06:58 in the history of this church, but we will have a daughter in the college, 07:04 a daughter in high school and a daughter in the elementary school all at one time 07:11 pray our strength in the Lord. [Congregation: Clapping] 07:15 But one of the first quotes my daughters learned when we moved to Huntsville and 07:21 they were in the fifth and third grade at Oakwood Adventist Academy was a quote 07:27 that one of their teachers, Dorothy Davis, used to make them learn. And it had to do with excuses. 07:36 Excuses are tools of incompetence which build monuments of nothingness 07:45 and anyone who dwells on them is seldom good for anything else. They will recite this over 07:56 and over in the house. "Excuses are tools of incompetence which build monuments of nothingness..." 08:02 and they will quote it so much I began to like the quote and I then began to quote it myself 08:10 because the quote became a model for me in my ministry. But then when I really think about it, 08:19 this quote is not just not useful in the vocational but this quote is also useful in the spiritual 08:27 because it addresses two kinds of excuses: the excuses that people make in one's service to God 08:37 and the excuses that people make in making a decision for God. So, if you're in church today, 08:47 if you're watching today, you're tempted to make an excuse about service to God. 08:55 And then if you're in here today and you're on the brink of joining the church, 08:59 you're tempted to make an excuse about a decision for God which means then 09:07 this word is for everybody up in here. Because all of us fall in one of two camps: 09:16 excuses in our service for God or excuses in making a decision for God. 09:24 So, in response to these two excuses, in these two different camps, two scriptures come to mind. 09:32 That's why I read one from the old testaments and one from the new testament. 09:37 Now the first in the old testament is from Exodus 3 and 4 if you read it when you go home 09:43 where we find the Lord calling Moses into God's service. Now notice this call is not made from a pulpit. 09:51 This call is not made from an office building or a boardroom. This call was not a volcanic phenomenon, 09:59 not a beam of sunlight, not a gas plant that had burst in flames. This call was made from a bush. 10:06 But this bush is not like other bushes but what makes this bush special is that God is in it. 10:14 And when God is in something or somebody, no devil in hell can stop it. 10:19 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yes] 10:21 But the fact that the bush is burning is not what catches Moses' attention. 10:26 What catches Moses attention is the fact that several hours have gone by and the bush is still burning. 10:33 So then out of curiosity, Moses says, "Let me take a step closer 10:38 and get a better look at this bush that will not burn out." 10:42 God sees He has Moses' attention and so He tells Moses, "Moses, take your shoes off 10:48 because you're standing on holy ground." But God then says to Moses, "Moses, 10:54 I've seen my people oppressed. I've seen my people tortured. 10:58 I've seen my people bullied and harassed. But enough is enough! 11:04 I want you to lead my people out of Egypt." Moses then begins to offer excuses instead of service. 11:12 His first excuse, "Who, me? Why me? I've got a bad past." In this excuse, Moses doubts himself. 11:22 Moses is saying, "God, you want to use me? Don't you know who I am? I've got a bad past 11:29 I'm the one who messed up. I'm the one who killed an Egyptian and then I tried to cover it up. 11:34 And then the next day I broke up a fight between two of my fellow Hebrews 11:38 but one of them reminded me that I was a murderer. 11:41 God, don't you remember?" "Yes", God says, "but I never forgot you." Moses says, 11:45 "But God, I'm the one who blows it." God says, "But you're the one who's also been forgiven." 11:50 Moses, "I'm the one who messes up." God says, "But you're also the one who's been saved, sanctified 11:55 and delivered. Don't worry about your past. Your past is good to learn from but not good to live in. 12:01 So when your past calls, don't answer because it has nothing new to say." Stop making excuses! 12:10 Moses goes to excuse number two. By whose authority am I being sent? 12:17 In other words, who should I tell that sent me? Now in the first excuse, Moses doubts himself. 12:23 In the second excuse, Moses doubts God. God never ask Moses to go tell the people what 12:32 Moses didn't know about God. God told Moses to go tell the people what he did know about God. 12:40 So God says in verse 14 and we read it, "When they ask you who sent you, just tell them that I am, 12:49 that I am has sent you." In other words, Moses, this doesn't have anything to do with who you are 12:56 but it has everything to do with who I am. And see, when you know who God is, 13:02 out of all the things God can't do, God my friends can't fail. God is God. God is omnificent, 13:11 omniscient, omnipresent, he's sovereign, king of kings, lord of lords, CEO of the universe 13:19 before Him there is none other, after Him, there won't be none other, He's the great I am! 13:28 But we get to excuse number three. What if they don't listen to me? 13:33 Now, this response is totally hypothetical. It's not factual. It's a 'what-if' response. 13:41 And I've learned in my ministry that 'what-if' responses are vision killers. 13:49 'What-ifs' are success slayers, they are faith destroyers. 13:55 Whenever you hear somebody running up to you talking about 'what-if', you know you've got a problem. 14:02 "What if the people don't listen?" "I didn't ask you that, just go." "What if I don't talk right?" 14:08 "I didn't ask you that, just go." "What if I don't play right?" "I didn't ask you that, just go." 14:15 "What if my past isn't right?" "I didn't ask you that, just go." "What if they don't know me?" 14:22 "I didn't ask you that, just go." "What if they ask me a question that I don't know the answer to?" 14:28 "I didn't ask you that, just go." "What if I haven't been fully trained?" "I didn't ask you that, just go." 14:35 "What if I've not been ordained?" I didn't ask you that, just go." 14:40 "What if I don't have a college degree?" "A graduate degree?" "A doctoral degree?" 14:45 "I didn't ask you that, just go." "Quit talking about what you don't have 14:50 and use what you do have and just go!" [Congregation: Clapping] 14:54 Moses was too concerned about what might happen. He didn't realize and hear what God say would happen. 15:03 So, what does God do? God gives him three proofs. How many proofs everybody? [Congregation: Three] 15:08 Come on. How many proofs everybody?[Congregation: Three] 15:10 First proof, God says, "Moses, what's in your hand?" Moses says, "A rod." God says, 15:15 "Well cast the rod to the ground." Moses cast the rod to the ground and the rod becomes a snake. 15:19 Moses runs from the snake. Truth be told, I would have run, too. 15:22 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yes] 15:24 Second proof. God says to Moses, "Reach out your hand. Take that rod. Take that snake by the tail." 15:33 Moses reaches out his hand. He catches the snake. The snake becomes a rod again. 15:40 Third proof. God says, "Moses, put your hand in your shirt next to your body." 15:45 Moses puts his hand in his shirt next to his flesh 15:48 and when he takes it out his hand is as leprous as snow. God then says, 15:52 "Alright Moses, put your hand back in your shirt next to your flesh." Moses does it again 15:58 and when he does it again, his hand becomes as healthy as it was before. The Lord is, in essence saying, 16:04 "Brother Moses, if I can do that with a stick, if I can do that with a rod, 16:09 if I can do that with your hand, imagine what I can do with your entire being." 16:14 But remember I said there were two scriptures. One in the old 16:19 and one in the new that reflect the two counts of excuses. We've dealt with the old testament, 16:26 the camp of offering God service but let's go now to the new testament, the second camp. 16:33 The excuse of making a decision for the Lord. In John 5, we read the text, 16:40 Jesus has just traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem. He's traveled there in order to celebrate one of the 16:46 great religious feasts. The bible does not tell us which feast it was. 16:51 It just says one of the great religious feasts. Now, when he arrives in Jerusalem, 16:57 he comes to the pool of Bethesda. Everybody say, "Bethesda". [Congregation: Bethesda] 17:00 Come on, say Bethesda.[Congregat ion: Bethesda] 17:02 Bethesda means the house of mercy or the house of healing which is an appropriate name for Bethesda 17:08 because the people who are waiting around the pool of Bethesda had been told that every now 17:12 and then, an angel would come and trouble the water and the first person who jumps into the pool 17:17 would be healed by an angel. Now, the bible makes no mention of medical equipment. 17:25 So, that means, there's no medical staff there. No doctors, no nurses but just at Bethesda, 17:33 a complex of five porches where hundreds of sick people lay. Now, at Bethesda, the word of God and Ellen White 17:43 in Desire of Ages teach that the water could not heal while it was still and quiet. 17:52 The water had to be troubled and the water had to be stirred up in order to bless and to heal. 18:01 There comes, understand friends of mine, a time in our life where we need healing. 18:07 Are you hearing what I'm saying? [Congregation: Yes] 18:09 We need healing but we can't get healing until the waters in our lives have been stirred up. 18:19 This isn't strange because the less you shake a bottle of orange juice, 18:25 all of the concentrates will fall to the bottom and you will have nothing to drink 18:30 but colored water. Unless you shake a bottle of medicine, all the healing substance 18:36 will gather at the bottom and what is left will take no effect. 18:41 That's why they'd tell you to shake it before you take it. And that's the way it is with us. 18:47 Unless we are stirred up, unless our waters are troubled, unless we've been shaken up, 18:54 our gifts will fall to the bottom of the pools in our lives. And we will be nothing 18:59 but dead and dry, unmoved and unchallenged, unstirred and unchanged. 19:04 The bible says that the man had been sick for 38 years which is a long time to be sick. 19:11 But the man's not interested in making something happen. 19:14 He's waiting for somebody to make something happen for him. 19:18 But there comes a time in your life where you can't wait for something to happen 19:22 but you got to make something happen. 19:25 You can't wait for somebody to do it for you but you got to do it yourself. 19:29 Jesus comes up to the man. Jesus says, "Man, do you want to be made whole? 19:35 Man, do you want to be healed?" Now on the surface, this seems like a foolish question 19:40 for doesn't a person who's been sick 38 years want to be made whole? 19:46 Doesn't a starving person want food? Doesn't a broke person want money? 19:52 Doesn't a person making an F want to make an A. Doesn't a sick person want healing? 19:58 Do you want to be made whole? But here comes the excuses. 20:02 "Sir, I have nobody to help put me in the water. Every time I try to get to the water, 20:08 somebody gets in my way and I can't get to the pool. I could have been healed a long time ago 20:13 but somebody was not there for me. I could have been healed but the water when it was stirred, 20:19 nobody was there to help put me in the water." But you see friends, I have a theological 20:23 and fundamental problem with his response. Because everybody around the pool is sick 20:29 and how can somebody who's sick get healing from somebody else who's sick? 20:34 Because if you are around sick people long enough, you'll start getting sick. 20:39 If you hang with negative people, you'll start being negative. If you hang with depressed people, 20:45 you'll start being depressed. If you hang with gossiping people, you'll start gossiping. 20:51 If you associate with Godless people, you'll start being Godless after all, 20:56 birds of a feather flock together. You're taking sickness to sickness and in the name of Jesus, 21:03 I don't know about you, but I don't want to surround myself with negative people. 21:09 I want to surround myself with positive people, Godly people, Christ-like people, prayerful people, 21:16 faithful people, spiritual people, visionary people, smart people. Because if I can do bad, 21:24 I can do bad by myself.[Congrega tion: Amen] 21:29 One of the reasons that hindered this man from healing was his company, his associations, his friends. 21:39 You can't receive a miracle hanging around sick people. But not only that, 21:43 this man's living what I call an 'as-soon-as' life. As soon as I get to the water, 21:50 my life will get better. As soon as I get in the water, my problems will be fixed. 21:57 As soon as somebody helps me, I will be healed. As soon as I get more money, I'll start tithing. 22:07 As soon as the time of trouble comes, I'll start going to church. As soon as probation closes, 22:15 I'll start praying. As soon as I learn more, I'll get baptized. But what are you waiting for? 22:26 Thirty-eight years? Time waits for no man. Jesus said, "Do you want to be healed? 22:35 Do you want to be made whole?" But I've learned in my life 22:38 and in my ministry there are some folks who don't want to be healed. 22:42 Some folks don't want the responsibility of what goes along with being healed. 22:46 Being sick gives them an excuse to lie on their back and wait for somebody else to do it for them. 22:53 Being sick gives them an excuse to keep doing what they've always been doing instead of making a change in their life. 23:00 But you can't keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. 23:03 That's lunacy. For 38 years, the man's been a beggar living off the pity of other folks. 23:10 If he's healed, he'll lose all of this. If he's healed, he's got to get a job 23:17 and take on the responsibilities of life. The fact is, 23:20 some folk would go through extraordinary lengths to avoid change in their lives. 23:24 The imprisonment is so great that when Jesus does ask, "Do you want to be made whole?" 23:29 Notice, the man doesn't even say yes. But he offers excuses. 23:38 Notice in the text, Jesus does not help this man get in the water. 23:46 But what does Jesus do? He speaks words of life. Rise, take up your bed and walk. 24:01 Don't just lie there. Don't wait for somebody to do something for you. Don't feel sorry for yourself. 24:12 Don't wait until you think you need to learn something else. But rise, pick up your bed and walk. 24:23 Jesus didn't lay hands on the man. Jesus didn't put oil on the man. Jesus didn't anoint the man 24:34 but Jesus challenged the man. Rise, pick up your bed and walk. Jesus told the man what to do 24:45 because Jesus had already given the man the power to do it. Rise, pick up your bed, and walk. 24:53 In both stories. Moses and the man at the pool of Bethesda, they are a word for somebody today. 25:08 Two different stories but one central message. Stop making excuses. Number one to the church members, 25:24 stop making excuses about being in service for the Lord. And number two, to the non-church member, 25:38 stop making excuses about making a decision for the Lord as it was in the days of Noah. 25:50 So, that it all so be in the coming of the son of man. Because in the days of Noah, they were eating 25:59 and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. So that it all so be just like that just 26:07 before the Lord comes. And Noah preached a hundred and twenty years. Eight people got in the boat. 26:16 I've been preaching two weeks and you need to say, "I'm not going to be like those folks who heard 26:22 the word of God through Noah but refused to get in the boat because it won't be water 26:29 but fire next time." And today I'm so glad that troubles won't last always 26:38 and I'm so glad that weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning time. 26:44 I'm so glad today that 2000 years ago, Jesus didn't wait on anybody. Jesus didn't cut any excuses. 26:54 Jesus wasn't scared but Jesus left a celestial courts of heaven. Jesus left the paradise of heaven. 27:02 Jesus came down to this sin-infested earth to save you, you and me. 27:10 Jesus went to Calvary to save a wretch like you and me. They hung him high, they stretch him wide. 27:18 He hung his head, for me he died. And that's not how the story ends. In three day, he rose again. 27:27 Stop making excuses. The doors of the church are open. 27:32 Man, woman, boy, girl, the doors of this church are open. Jesus loves you. Jesus died to save you. 27:40 Jesus is coming back to get you. Stop making excuses. Everybody on their feet. I'm about to close. 27:48 Everybody on their feet, come on. Everybody on their feet, everybody stand up. 27:51 We're making the appeal, we're close. We'll make the appeal, we're close. Everybody on their feet. 27:56 Pass me not oh gentle savior, hear my humble cry, while on others thou art calling, 28:01 do not pass me by. The doors. of God's church is open. Pass me not oh Gentle Savior. 28:05 Sing with me, everybody. 28:06 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 28:10 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:14 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 28:17 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 28:23 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:30 [End] |
Revised 2019-04-04